The Dillon tribune., 1887-08-26
nesvsrhead Coumty Omeers.
SWISS lANosttpS.

SWISS 1ANOSIvPS.
Tho Frequent Destruction Of villages by
tho Gigantic Landslides.
Many OF tho Swiss villages exist almost
on su6erance. The avalanche Of snow or
the avalanche Of earth may at any mo-
,nent sweep them away, or, what is
equally r1linous, ovcrwhelm them with
the debris Of the mountain at the foot Of
or on which they are built. In not few
instances the landslip is 80 slow in it's
progress that it is only question Of time
when the final catastrophe will be pre-
cipitatcd. At Bee RM =, in the Ta1an-
taise, for example, tho side Of the nour,-
tain i gradually overwhelming tho vil-
lage Of Miroir. In most cases. however,
the calamity is sudden and unexpected.
Such an instance is supplied by the fall
Of the Rossberg, we'll known mountain
5000 feet high, situated just behind the
better known and lofticr Rig. In 1906,
after q very rainy season, u largo portion
of the mountain, consisting Of beds Of
hard sandstone and pudding stone, rest
ing on soft sandy layers, suddenly swept
across tho valley Of Gcldau, burying four
villages, comprising over 800 houses,
nearly 500 inhabitants and more than IS
square miles Of fertile land. In 1886 q
mass of debris slid into the valley of the
Hber, which, damned hack hy the OBJ
structior, ovcrtlowed tho village Of San
Stefano to the depth Of so feet, until tho
drowned village was relieved by means
Of hastily constructed canal Another
example Of disastrous landslip is that in
which, by tho sliding of a portion of
Monte Como, tho entire village of Plurs,
with 2,43O inhabitants, was in 1918 over
whelmed. For several days before the
catastrophe masses of rock had become
detached from tho mountain, and nulucr-
GUS assures were observed to form or
widen ON its sides. But the villagers Ills.
regarded tho warnings, and were in
few minutes buried with all their possess
sions beneath sixty feet of rock und
earth. All attempts to penetrate the
mass proved fruitlcss, and no trace Of
the town has since been seen. Tho Garth
which entombcu it Is now clothed with u
luxuriant forest of ohcstnuts, but the
original name still survives in tho little
village of Plurs, or Plurc.
1t may almost BE- said that these catas-
tropics are ~ frequent that history pre-
serves the memory Of only the most dis
astrous. Such o one was that by which
the village Of Elm was overwhelmed only
few years ago. At that time tho place
contained fifty houses and nearly $50 in
habttants. most Of them children and old
people. Nearly halt Of them were killed,
whilc most Of the dwelling houses were
altogc,l'cr crushed Or buried lcncath tho
debris from that portion Of the Tcscl,ingcl
Alps, which broke away from its parent
mountain. Altogether, though the Elm,
catastrophe was, in the less Of lif,. aud
property, If less Magnitudc than those
which overlook llurs and Goldau, it is
doubtful whether i. did not, in the amount
Of rubbish shot from the mountain side,
surpass both Of these gigantic kn,lsliles.
Tho Swiss gcologists who visited the spot
Immediately after tho disaster calculated
that. 1t tho lowest estimate, the contents
Of the slip measures l0.000,OOV cubic
meters. What a vast amount OF material
this pilc contains may ir grasls~l by Il
simple illustration. Zurich is a city of
10000 inhabitants. Vet in the debris shot
from the side Of the Ta,hing,l Alp there
was stone enough to build two Z,lric,,s.
Some Of the blocks are hcals.d 300 or 400
feet higher than the village OF Elm. One
is estimated to weigh 5000 tons. and us
these gigantic missiles We're pr,~.ipitatc.l
from Il height cf 1000 feet TIN, Irresistible
force with which they fcll on the doomed
villages can easily bc imagined. London
Standard.